Reliance Jio set to launch mobile handsets under Lyf brand

This indicates a possible start of Jio’s services for the public in about three months. The phones will be bundled with a free connection for 90 daysDeepali Gupta&Gulveen Aulakh | ET Bureau | January 07, 2016, 09:15 IST

Image credit: GettyReliance Jio Infocomm, set to make its long-anticipated commercial entry in 2016, will launch mobile handsets under the Lyf brand in a few weeks, said two people aware of the matter. This indicates a possible start of Jio's services for the public in about three months.

A third person said the Lyf launch may be on January 15, on the auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti. The phones will be bundled with a free connection for 90 days, the people said, suggesting that the start of services for the public will be sometime in April. The Reliance Industries (RIL) unit launched services for employees and their friends on December 29.

Some of these phones have been available to Jio staff for two months at on-campus stores. Data show around 3,70,000 Lyf phones have been shipped, some of them sold to staff at a 25% discount. Reliance Digital, the RIL retail arm responsible for Lyf, is launching four device series — Earth, Water, Wind and Flame. Made by companies such as Intex and Micromax, these will be priced from Rs 4,000 to Rs 25,000, according to the people cited above. The head of a large-format retailer said Lyf-branded smartphones will start coming to stores across the country early next week.

Jio didn't respond to emailed queries. Technology has played a role in the Jio launch being later than expected, with the 4G airwaves having been awarded in 2010. Although the ecosystem has evolved at a faster pace than earlier anticipated, most smartphones don't support voice over LTE (VoLTE), making the Lyf phones key to the plan.

In addition, Jio's network is spread over airwave bands that aren't supported by most existing phones. Only a few handset models can use the 2300MHz band, which forms the bulk of Jio's airwaves. Jio therefore needs a reasonable number of phones in the hands of potential subscribers that will be able to use the network. These users will also contribute to fine-tuning the network and identifying dark spots, said people with knowledge of the matter.

While retailer-distributor agreements are in place, sales from existing smartphone partner brands "has been very encouraging," said one of the people cited above.

The late December debut opened up the network for free usage by more than 150,000 employees and friends. The Jio team has been instructed to start opening up circles as deployment is completed. This includes towers as well as small cells that reinforce signals. Early reports suggest that the 4G network is delivering connectivity at about 40Mbps, around 10 times the speed on the average 3G network. However, that could slow to 10-12Mbps when subscribers start logging on after the commercial launch, a technical expert said.